YEE HAW WE BE FINISHED HERE

I have to say at the end of some of these adventures this is exactly the way I felt. Even though some times I would get very frustrated there were just as many times that I had a good time with this project. I have learned about some new tools for work along with finding some additional play sites. Each time I worked on the 23 things I found informative sites and found that I still am able to learn every day. I will admit in a way I am glad to have it finished but Im sure I will catch myself missing the fun of discovering issues I wouldn't normally take time to explore on my own. Thanks for the learning experience!!!

I CAN ALMOST SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

NetLibrary

This is something I could really get in to. I personally love listening to CDBooks simply because I can never seem to find the time to sit down and enjoy actually reading a book. By the time I am able to sit and read I end up falling asleep within the first chapter and its hard to get a book finished when your snoring. By being able to download the book to a MP3 I am able to enjoy a good book in my own way while I am taking care of other things in my busy life. I know its not like curling up on the couch relaxing with a good book but its what I have time for so it works for me.

The only drawback I have ran into is that some genres are more limited than others and some of the newer releases are not there yet. The first three titles I searched for wasn't found...which happen to be the next ones I would like to listen to.

As far as our patrons its about like many of the other issues we have addressed. It would be great for some and not for others. We do have many patrons who check out the CDBooks and I think this would be good for them also.

Podcast

I think what I need is to have more interest in this one. It has been hard for me to find interest in anything out there. Maybe its due to being such a big generalized selection or maybe its just the day and my head is thinking more about the weekend, I'm not sure. In any case I done some searching on the websites Sarah listed and checked out what fellow workers had to say about this "thing". I found that some co-workers really love this part of the 23 things and other are more like me...which has been the case throughout the entire 23 thing process. I know my son likes to use iTunes and I have tried it at home but I know others that I would much rather use. He has had me try it several times and each time I end up with the same conculusion so I will leave iTunes to my kids and stick to what is better for me. I agree that as far as library use some of these would be very helpful to the "internet crowd" but it's certainly not for everyone.

YouTube

I love this site for many reasons but today I checked it out for the purpose of our 23 things and have to say I learned even more reasons to use the site. I watched videos of Library Storytimes and decided this would be good for patrons that may have missed one at their own Library. My all time fav person to watch on YouTube is Rodney Carrington but I don't think he is appropriate to put since this is work related. This one isn't work related either but I just love these with the laughing babies and lets face it...who can't use a good laugh...they are catching.

Web 2.0 Awards

There were several sites on here that I check out pretty often. I would have to say Pandora is my fav when it comes to music and out of the ones listed for photos Flickr would be my pick. YouTube is one of my all time favorite sites but that is to be talked about in our next "thing". Since we needed to explore one of these I picked one I had only visited a couple times before which was Yahoo! Answers...I like this site but it seems to me that its like many other sites on the web...you take the answers with a grain of salt because they are answered by people like you and I...not professionals in most cases however some of the answers I got were helpful.

Google Docs

I liked this one. I can see how it could really be helpful. First you can access your docs from any computer and if you have a harddrive crash guess what...you still have your docs (or whatever) out there available whenever needed.
Just to try it out I made a spreedsheet of the movies showing at MCPL for the next three months.
If you really wanted to get deep into it there could be a movie schedule made up so that the patrons would have access to it...we already show a list of the movies to be shown on our website but who knows...this could be helpful.

#17 adding my wiki

In the beginning of this part I got frustrated pretty bad. I added a page and couldn't figure out where it went to. Once I finally found it and was able to delete it I decided to reread the directions...again. This time I saw the part about...change the link type from "Wiki page" to "URL" and paste your blog's URL into the window that appears!!!!

You know it really helps when you slow down long enough to read directions and let what you read sink in before jumping into it head first. I would think by now I would have figured that out but once again I have to learn the hard way.

I finally got my blog added to favorites and also added TGIFridays to favorite restaurants and to favorite websites added Pandora and YouTube.

wikis

I have looked at the booklovers wiki before and really liked it but when I tried it today something strange was happening...guess its par for the course today. Everytime I tried to do a search I got blocked with this as the reason....
Reason:
The Websense category "Malicious Web Sites" is filtered
so....I dont know if its just me today or if something is going on within the system. I think it a good thing to be able to see what others think about a book...even being able to see what the staff reports on them. Very helpful to anyone with questions about if this is a book they really want to read or not.
Next up...adding my thoughts to our learning wiki.....yeah!!!

Library 2.0

Hummmm...I was at first having a hard time getting into this but the more I think about it the more I have to say it is needed. The way the world and its resources for researching is changing it wont be long till we go past 2.0. My concern naturally are for the older patrons who do not want to learn anything concerning computers...we still need the old ways to help these patrons.

Google Book Search

I can see how this would help the Library especially in a case where we may not have an available copy in which our patrons may be looking for. For instance...a patron wants to know if the book History of the Cherokee Indians and Their Legends and Folk Lure by Emmet Starr has any information on the Proclamation of May 28, 1828...but...you dont have an available copy of the book...you can find this information on the contents page within google book search. Now you have helped the patron and they know for a fact where to find the info they are looking for.

The thing I found that would have been helpful is if the contents page of the book had clickable links to take you right to the chapter or page instead of scrolling to the page. Yes at the top of the page you can indicate the page number you want to go to but I still think it would be nice to have the contents clickable. Some of the books may be that way Im not sure ... I just know the ones I looked at were not.

del.icio.us

Have to say, I honestly think this would be a good site to get more familier with. Although about the only computer I am ever on is the one at work it would be great for if I ever do get to go on vacation and wanted to go to some of my favorite sites. Knowing how my memory gets sometimes, I know I would never be able to remember all the urls so once again I think this site would be helpful to me...that is if I can remember how to spell it.... del.icio.us.....have to work on remembering that.

#12...My choice

There are so many things I like doing ... but...I love taking pictures with my digital camera then loading them on the computer or our (my kids and myself) new fav is loading them to the Wii... after loading them we can see them on the TV and make them into puzzles. You can make it simple so that there are only a few puzzle pieces or more pieces for more difficulty. Pretty fun.

I guess the item I would use most would be the flash drive.

Digg

Looking around in Digg was very interesting. I found lots of good stuff to read that I wouldn't have read otherwise. I figured the one I posted would be better to post since this is a work project. With that said I found a bunch of informational reading that I wouldnt really feel comfortable posting about here. That should let you know that you can find all sorts of subjects to read about on Digg.

Mashups

First I will have to agree with Sarah...Earthquake! does slow the computer way down so I didnt spend much time there at all. I guess Delivr would be my fav out of those listed for thing 8 cause I love sending ecards of any kind. Just wish I had more time to search for the perfect one that says it all...but I normally end up having to settle for one that fits.

Flickr Update

Concerning Flickr...yeah Im backtracking but it will be ok. I have changed the pictures from my latest adventures to pics I have taken around the library. Yes I did get the patron which is working on our current puzzle to sign the media release form so it could be used in the Flyer if needed. I also have a pic of one of our own being her crazy self so take a look if you want to see the crazyness. The link is over to the right of this page...

Good Reads

So ok...I set up my good reads site and added some books...mostly kids books cause I like them best. This is about all I could handle today at least until my headache goes away...which is why I added the Excedrin picture to the right. LOL

Online Image Generators

Been playing around with this some today and found some interesting sites for logos and buttons (one of the buttons I made is shown over to the right) such as http://cooltext.com/ or http://logos.petrucci.ch/ and a mouseover images generator http://www.htmlbasix.com/mouseoverimages.shtml. Even though I had somewhat of a fun experience playing around on these websites I don't think it is something I would ever use in my everyday activities...but then again one never knows. I learned a long time ago to Never say never...haha

Flickr

Have my Flickr account going and added some pics of my latest adventures. I love working with pictures so I really enjoyed this part of the 23 things. There is a link to the right that hopefully will take you to my pics if you would like to take a gander.

Week 3

OK ... well I read up on RSS feeds and I have to say I know several other subjects I would rather be reading about. I guess part of the learning process is learning about things you like along with things you ... well not dislike ... but are not as interested in. Reading info like this takes me back to my college days, which has been what seems like many many years ago. I do know that technology has changed a bunch since then. Alright...enough about that. I set up Google Reader and look forward to adding more to it as time goes on. Also found some good feeds but am ready to move on to the next "thing". I like working with pictures so looking forward to trying out Flickr.

Just learning

Hey all...this is my first post for our 23 things so dont be too rough on me. I am learning and hanging in there. I find I learn something new each and every day. Sometimes it may be something little and unimportant to anyone else but other days it is one of those life learning experiences that really do stick with you for life. I learn best by just jumping in and doing...well on most things anyway. I look forward to this great learning journey.